Irish beef exports to China have responded strongly to the reopening of the market after two closures due to atypical cases of BSE in Ireland.

In 2023, Irish beef exports to China stood at €32m, with just under 8,000t of beef making its way to China.

Exports for the first half of 2024 are up by 23%, but low beef prices in China means that the value of beef exports are back 3% compared with the first six months of 2023, despite the higher volumes.

At present, exports of Irish beef is primarily chilled boneless beef, with no access to offal.

However, speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at a Bord Bia trade mission in China this week, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State Martin Heydon expressed hope that the market for offal would open.

“For offal, China is a very strong market compared to markets internationally.

"It’s not something that’s popular in Ireland, but it is popular here [in China] and it would make the economies of scale and the cost of doing trade with China much better,” Minister McConalogue said.

It would be a big help to beef exporters to also have offal as an export product, according to Minister of State Heydon: “On the point of economies of scale, ultimately it’s for the Irish food companies to be able to fill a container [of beef to China].

“If the container is only half full, it doesn’t make economic sense to export in the current depressed market.

“So what you want is more product to be able to fill that container and then that justifies being able to bring over more of the high-value product, which ultimately will benefit the Irish farmer,” he said.

Both ministers attended Beijing earlier in the week and met government officials where opening the Chinese market to Irish offal was discussed.

“The engagement [with Chinese government] is very good and the fact that vice-minister Wong will be travelling to Ireland in the next number of weeks is positive as well, but these things take time,” Minister McConalogue said.

The last time a member of the Chinese government visited Ireland was when Chinese premier Li Qiang announced the reopening of the beef market last January after being closed due to an atypical BSE case.

Trade war

On the subject of the trade issues between China and the European Union - where it was announced that imports of certain dairy products from the EU will be banned pending the outcome of an investigation by the Chinese authorities - Minister McConalogue said he raised the issue with his Chinese counterparts.

“I would be very hopeful that, as we move forward, given the confidence levels we have of being able to answer the questions [posed by the Chinese authorities] positively, that working with the European Commission we can reach a positive outcome.

“The key point here is compliance with World Trade Organisation rules and we are very clear in relation to that,” he said.

The trade mission concludes in South Korea later this week, where Irish beef exporters are meeting with Korean buyers.